Candidates for Wind Gap Borough Council identify roads as top priority

Three seats on the Wind Gap Borough Council are up for grabs this November, and four men who have served on it are looking to be re-elected.

Democrats John Faust, Kerry Gassler and Joe Weaver will face Republican George Hinton in the race for three council seats. Faust, the borough’s longtime fire chief and a former councilman, is the only candidate in the race who is not an incumbent.

Faust, Gassler and Hinton all said their top priority if elected would be getting the borough’s streets in order. Many of the borough’s main thoroughfares, particularly Alpha Road, are in poor condition and need to be repaved and plowed better during the winter, they said.

Hinton, 54, said the borough needs to better organize its workers. He’d like to see the street department work more closely with the borough office staff to stay organized. Similarly, the police department needs better teamwork if it’s going to move past a year of controversy, he said. Police Chief Craig Armitage was suspended for a month and the borough council moved to fire its most senior officer. Hinton has attributed the strife to officers not following protocol and orders.

“Unfortunately, everybody seems to want to do their own thing. That’s what we need to focus on -- trying to get borough workers to work together more,” he said.

Faust, 43, said the road department needs to be given more autonomy. If the municipality granted the department a budget as part of the borough’s annual budget, he said, the road department could bypass bureaucracy and more quickly address road problems. He’s confident that such a system would allow streets to be plowed more quickly and roads would be kept in better condition. A similar model is followed in Plainfield Township, he said.

“They don’t need to be overseen. Those guys are smart guys,” Faust said.

Gassler said he would use his experience from 12 years on council to serve as an advocate of the residents. The 59-year-old said he closely reviews everything that comes before the council and makes sure the council’s decisions are actually enacted by the borough. He recently delayed a vote on updating the borough’s zoning codes when he found the council had not been provided all the regulations they would be approving.

“I got on trying to improve the borough. As long as the people want me, that’s what I’m going to do,” he said.